There are basically two ways to communicate with your fellow players in-game: emails and Tells. Each technique has its pros and cons, which I have listed below.

Emails

City of Heroes' in-game email system is accessed through the Chatbox--click the word "Email" (beside "Super"), and you will see a complete list of all the emails you have received. Each character you have will have a different "email account," meaning that you can't access all the emails from all your characters at once. You will usually get a message right when you log in that tells you how many emails you have received since you logged off that character last. See more pros and cons about using emails below.

Pros

Cons

Great for longer messages, like lists

You can save emails for later reference

You can send emails to both individual characters and to a global chat name (any character name with an @ in front of it), including yourself

You can also email items (salvage, inspirations, enhancements) as well as influence to a global chat name, including your own

Expire within 60 days of being sent--so if you're logged off a long time, you could end up losing everything you've stored in your email inbox

Using Emails

When you send an email, be sure that you give your email a distinctive title that doesn't look like spam. Also, if the person you are emailing is actually online, it may be faster to just send a Tell if your message is short enough or it needs a very quick response.

If you're sending an email with an item or influence attached, it's good to warn the person beforehand, so that they log on with the character they want to have the item or influence on. Trying to switch items or influence from one character to another can be bothersome.

Alternatively, if you accidentally get your item or influence on the wrong character, you can actually email it back to yourself and then log in on the right character!

Have you ever gotten a message in bright yellow from another hero, formatted like the following?

--THEIRNAME: MESSAGE

If so, then you have received a Tell—-a private message, just between you and that person.

Tells are great for asking the leader of your team a private question, or just carrying on a private conversation—-it doesn’t clutter up anyone else’s window with a conversation that isn’t theirs to worry about. See more pros and cons about using Tells below.

Pros

Cons

Easy to use for private conversations

Can send Tells to a Global Chat name

There is a character limit on Tells--can't send very long messages

Can't store Tells for later reference

Can't send items to another player

Using Tells

To send a Tell to someone, follow the format below:

/t HERO’S NAME, YOUR REPLY HERE

Be sure you have spelled the person’s name right, or the message will not go through (or it might go to the wrong person!).

You can also click on the Chat window (NOT the place where you type in your reply, but the place where previous messages are displayed), and then hit the Backspace key to automatically set up a replying Tell to the last person who sent a Tell to you. This speeds things up a lot, especially if you are carrying on a private conversation with someone, or if you're in the thick of battle and don't need to get stuck typing a name for a Tell.

If you need a short message to get to a person no matter what character they log onto, send them a Global Tell by typing /t @THEIRGLOBALNAME, and your message. This message will pop up as soon as they log in!

How Can You Communicate Across Servers and Even To CoV Players?

You can talk to players who are not even on your same server, or who are playing City of Villains, by sending a Tell to the person's Global Chat name. Don't forget to put an @ in front of the player's Global Chat handle, otherwise it might not go through correctly.